On the loose

You had to feel for the organisers. When we arrived, Portugal was in national mourning after one of the famous bridges over the Douro collapsed, plunging a coach into the raging torrent beneath. And as you picked your way over road surfaces that wouldn't look out of place in Kenya, you couldn't help but think that a car rally was the last thing on the list of priorities. Right now, mere survival is the goal of most Portuguese.

The Rally of Portugal has enjoyed a charmed life over the years, however, and it was little surprise to hear its more vocal critics calling for its removal from the series. In the past, the main objection has been safety - or the lack of it - and in the treacherous conditions that prevailed last weekend, it was all too easy to point out the relevant dangers of large spectator crowds and such slippery road conditions.

It's a strong argument, for while the Portuguese were faced with freak conditions - full British Grand Prix 2000-spec - they eventually had to counter problems that they should have seen coming months in advance. And there were gaps in safety blueprints and emergency measures lists that you could have driven the entire WRC through.

But we've been here before. Portugal 2001 was bad, but it was better than, for example, Portugal 1997 (when a single first stage on the opening evening turned into a game of dare between fans and drivers). If the weather hadn't been dire last weekend, would anyone have complained?

Chances are that Portugal, along with Cyprus, faces removal from the WRC not purely because of its organisation (in Cyprus's case it puts other rallies to shame), but because of a combination of a dodgy history and a weak market value. Germany is unlikely to have as satisfying stages as Portugal's more regular tests, and it's hard to see India - one of the names recently mentioned by Max Mosley - putting on anything less scrappy than the haphazard Safari. But both territories are massive markets with huge potential gains for manufacturers. So place bets now that both will be included within five years, Germany long before that.

We are entering a new era now, and the Portuguese might find themselves given the excuse of poor weather for their removal. But the real truth is that brand values, not even spectator safety, are likely to be behind the switch. And after the way Portugal has behaved (and been excused) in previous years, that is irony indeed.

The Rally of Portugal will be shown on Sunday Grandstand (BBC2, 1335) and then repeated on Monday March 19 (BBC2, 1310).